Chapter 64 Arrival in an Unknown Land The chirping of insects at a certain moment…
The chirping of insects suddenly disappeared in an instant, and the rustling of leaves carried by the wind through the forest became so inconspicuous.
The moonlight spilled onto the land, giving the gray-brown soil a crystalline appearance. Mist rose from the lake at night, shrouding the silvery surface in fog and shielding it from the moonlight.
Small ripples spread across the lake, one after another, dotted with blue specks, almost covering the entire surface.
Eureka opened her eyes warily, carefully pulled out the knife from under her pillow, and was about to get up and lift the tent flap to investigate.
"Go back to sleep," Sang Zhitao suddenly said from the side.
“But…” Eureka paused for a moment, then subconsciously glanced outside.
The commotion outside grew louder and louder. It was the sound of leather boots stepping on the muddy ground and the occasional cracking of leaves underfoot. Someone was quietly making their way to the lake under the cover of night.
“If someone is courting death, why bother stopping them?” Sang Zhitao turned over nimbly, glanced coldly outside, and then looked at Eureka.
Everyone coincidentally brought only one tent, both to reduce baggage and to be wary of each other and prevent the other from plotting against them.
Even Eureka and Sang Zhitao were the same; they wouldn't separate into tents just because of the so-called difference between men and women, which would undoubtedly be foolish.
Eureka picked up the dagger and cautiously peeked outside, only to see Kate tiptoeing toward the lake.
He lowered the tent flap and lay back down in his bedding.
After a long while, when silence returned, he suddenly spoke: "I saw that Captain Bayer's tent had also been opened."
Sang Zhitao was silent for a moment before speaking: "This has nothing to do with us."
Seeing this, Eureka said nothing more and went back to sleep.
Kate cautiously looked around. The rustling sound he had just heard seemed to be just his imagination. He relaxed slightly, lowered his body a little, and continued to slowly feel his way forward.
A moment later, he arrived at the lake he had seen during the day. He was slightly taken aback as he watched the rising mist, which was even thicker than when he had just left the tent.
Following his past experience, he took off his leather boots and tied them around his waist. Stepping on the stones that were white in the moonlight, he slowly sank himself into the lake.
His movements broke the small ripples on the lake's surface, creating larger ripples that spread into the distance.
The blue stars in the distance paused for a moment, and the tiny ripples seemed to freeze for a instant. Then, as if excited, the ripples spread out further, and the stars gradually gathered towards Kate, without him noticing.
Just as Kate finally sank herself into the sea, she pushed off the lake shore with both feet and rushed straight into the center of the lake.
His movements were extremely light and professional, making almost no sound in the extremely quiet night. The ripples that constantly formed on the lake's surface were enough to prove that someone was swimming like a fish.
Behind Kate's back, blue specks slowly seeped onto his trouser cuffs, the hem of his shirt, down to his toes, and then to his ankles...
"Ah!" A piercing scream woke everyone from their sleep.
People like Bayer Eureka, who weren't asleep to begin with, jumped up instantly, grabbed a dagger, and rushed out of the tent.
Sang Zhitao, meanwhile, yawned nonchalantly, put on her coat, and leisurely walked out of the tent.
When she came out, the tent was already full of people.
They looked at each other, unsure whether the screams they had just heard were a dream or reality.
"The lake...the lake surface!" A sharp-eyed captain glanced at the lake and exclaimed in surprise.
Everyone then turned their gaze to the lake, and their faces turned extremely grim as they saw the ominous blood-red reflection in what should have been white mist, especially when they noticed that the red edges seemed to have a hint of blue light.
"Go take a look!" Bayer glanced at Sang Zhitao first, a deep glint in his eyes, then spoke coldly.
After he finished speaking, he didn't wait for anyone else and took the lead in walking towards the lake.
The others exchanged glances upon seeing this, and without further delay, followed them toward the lake.
Sang Zhitao rubbed her temples in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Eureka looked at her with some concern.
"I'm so frustrated." Sang Zhitao rubbed her fingertips, suppressing the sudden surge of murderous intent in her heart, her voice full of displeasure.
Eureka pursed her lips, then said with some annoyance, "I should have let Baron come with you. He's smart, I..."
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine." Sang Zhitao waved her hand, rubbing her temples as she offered him a few words of comfort.
"What is that!" The people in front had already reached the lake. Looking at the lake surface stained red with blood in the center and the increasing number of blue specks around it, they all frowned.
“Ghost jellyfish!” Bayer said, his face grim.
"Why are there ghost jellyfish here! Aren't those legendary creatures?!" Nat stared at the lake in disbelief, his face pale. "In the middle... in the middle, is that... Kate...?"
Everyone had already noticed that Captain Kate hadn't come out of the tent with them, and naturally understood who was the one who had died on the lake. Their expressions turned grim.
Only those like Sang Zhitao and Bayer, who had already seen through Kate's actions, showed slightly better expressions and nothing unusual.
As the blood-red lake water was gradually diluted by the surrounding water, the piercing crimson disappeared from everyone's sight, and the blue specks scattered again, the lake returning to calm.
"Then how do we get across this lake?" Moke asked, frowning.
Sang Zhitao was standing on a very low lake shore, almost level with the water, and her toes were already touching the lake water.
She looked down and saw a blue dot approaching on the water's surface, with several transparent tentacles emerging from the bottom, gleaming in the moonlight.
The tentacles cautiously spread around her feet, eventually climbing up her boots.
Sang Zhitao watched indifferently as the small creature went from tentatively touching the ground to brazenly climbing, until it was about to touch the top of her boot, then she raised the iron rod in her hand and smashed it down hard.
The moment the stick touched the lake's surface, it created a violent splash, accompanied by a piercing, sharp sound that made those around involuntarily cover their ears and take a few steps back.
Only Sang Zhitao, with a calm expression, watched as the small patch of lake water in front of her was dyed light blue, before using an iron rod to pick up a transparent object and throw it onto the shore.
Everyone looked at her in astonishment, then at the dead ghost jellyfish.
Although they had long heard of Captain Sylph's superb fighting skills and cruel methods, they were immediately struck by Sang Zhitao's youthful face upon first meeting her. They never thought that a lively girl with such a face could be such a cruel person, and even thought that the rumors were wrong.
But now, looking at the girl in front of them with murderous intent on her face, they felt that the rumors described her as too weak.
"There's nothing to fear about these things as long as you don't enter their territory," Sang Zhitao said calmly, taking the handkerchief Eureka handed her and wiping the lake water splashed on her face.
“Then let’s proceed as planned and build the ship first thing tomorrow morning,” Bayer said, glancing at her before addressing the crowd.
His power and status were already above everyone else's, and he was known for his domineering nature. For a while, no one argued with him and they all nodded and returned to their own tents.
“We were the first ones when we set off,” Sang Zhitao said to Eureka back in the tent.
Eureka didn't understand, but she still nodded.
They've been here for three days now, and not a single fool has dared to venture out into the lake. Everyone has been obediently building simple wooden boats based on their own experience.
Sang Zhitao's leather boots rolled over the shipbuilding planks as she looked at the crystal-clear lake in the distance. She knew that cunning and ferocious ghost jellyfish slept at the seemingly empty bottom of the lake.
Bayer stood in the shadows three meters away, wiping the sharp blade in his hand, the clanging sound somewhat noisy.
Eureka tightened the last leather rope, and in the distance came Mok's hoarse voice cursing that someone had stolen his timber.
At noon, seven wooden boats pierced the lake in an arrow-like formation. Sang Zhitao's boat was the first one, and no one would compete with the guide for the lead position.
Moke deliberately lagged behind the group, and each time his oars hit the water, they splashed up exaggerated sprays, startling the sleeping jellyfish swarm that churned at the bottom of the lake.
“He’s deliberately provoking the jellyfish,” Eureka leaned forward slightly and whispered in Sang Zhitao’s ear.
Sang Zhitao glanced indifferently at the wooden box guiding the way in her hand and scoffed, "Whatever, he's just another fool."
The lead boat was already close to the small island in the lake, while Moke's boat had just passed the middle.
Amidst the splashing water, which had been stirred up for who knows how many times, came Moke's screams.
Everyone simultaneously and quickly swung their oars, and no one turned around to meddle.
Only after they had all reached the shore did the group look grimly at the people who had been swallowed by transparent jellyfish and the sinking boat in the center of the lake.
Each person's boat has a different number of jellyfish tentacles.
"On the way back, we'll draw lots to decide the order," Nate, the second to last, said with a grim expression, noticing the increasing number of tentacles on the ship as they moved further back.
The group exchanged glances, but no one spoke, seemingly in silent agreement.
"Let's go," Sang Zhitao said coldly.
Seeing her turn and leave, the crowd dared not delay and followed her.
When Sang Zhitao saw herself turn around, Bayer's lips curled into a fleeting, cold smile.
"The Fountain of Youth!" Nat exclaimed, and then a flurry of footsteps rushed toward a silvery spring deep within.
The spring was no more than a meter wide, but its depth was unfathomable, and it shone with a faint silvery light.
"This is the legendary Fountain of Immortality..." Sang Zhitao murmured.
"Why don't you go over there?" Bayer walked to her side, looking at the person making a fool of themselves by the spring across the way, a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"Why don't you go over there, Captain Bayer? Isn't this the unknown place you've been searching for?" Sang Zhitao raised her head slightly and glanced at him sideways.
“That’s not what I want, and neither do you,” Bayer said with a smile that seemed to be both a test and an expression of understanding.
"Why kill Moke?" Sang Zhitao raised an eyebrow and asked abruptly.
"I merely fulfilled your wish." A faint green light flashed in Bayer's eyes, barely perceptible and fleeting.
Sang Zhitao felt that he was just making excuses for killing people, so she ignored him and instead looked at Eureka beside her: "Proceed according to our plan."
Eureka nodded and took out two wooden boxes from his waist; they were the very boxes salvaged from the Hope.
He carefully opened the wooden box, inside which was another wooden box. He continued to disassemble them, pulling out eighty or ninety of them like nesting dolls.
Bayer was stunned, not expecting such a thing. Then he realized what was happening, his lips twitched, and he looked at Sang Zhitao, pointing at the wooden box in disbelief: "You're taking it all at once?"
Sang Zhitao nodded, raising an eyebrow: "Otherwise what?"
Bayer was momentarily speechless and didn't say anything more, just stood aside watching her and Eureka busy themselves with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
“The limit for one box is ten glass bottles, which weighs about twenty pounds.” Eureka had already secured a spot on the lake and quickly tested it.
Sang Zhitao nodded and helped Eureka fill the box. Looking at the small box that could only hold one item, she began to stuff it into her body as she had previously discussed.
Eureka helped her by stuffing it into her pocket.
These clothes were all made in advance by Anna and the others. Each one had dozens of pockets, enough to hold all the boxes without hindering their movements.
Fortunately, the wooden boxes are made of very light material, so what you put inside doesn't affect the weight. Even if there are dozens of them, they won't weigh more than a few kilograms, and two people can easily carry them.
Bayer, standing nearby, couldn't help but cover his face as he watched the two of them looking so well-prepared.
"Everyone, now that we've obtained the Fountain of Youth, let's leave." After seeing that the two women had finished, Bayer turned to the other captains and said.
The group looked at each other, nodded, and got up to leave.
But when the group reached the cave entrance, they realized that Bayer and Sang Zhitao had not followed them, and they looked at them in confusion.
“We have our own business to attend to, please leave.” Bayer said with a gentle smile, but his tone left no room for argument.
The crowd's faces darkened: "Is Captain Bayer hiding some benefits from us?"
Bayer looked at them coldly, his smile growing increasingly sinister: "So what?"
Of course, everyone wanted to go with them, but looking at Bayer's murderous eyes, Sang Zhitao in the distance, and Eureka who had already come forward and was pointing a knife at them, they really didn't think they could beat these people, especially Sang Zhitao. They could only swallow their frustration and leave the cave.
Seeing them leave, Bayer paid no attention to the resentful and greedy eyes in them, and only looked at Sang Zhitao: "Let's go."
Sang Zhitao looked at the cave entrance for a few moments, then nodded silently.
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